AKIPRESS.COM - President of the U.S. Donald Trump said Thursday night that the United States had carried out a missile strike in Syria in response to the Syrian government’s chemical weapons attack this week, which killed more than 80 civilians. U.S. media report.

“Tonight, I ordered a targeted military strike on the air base in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched,” Mr. Trump said in remarks at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, NYTimes reported. “It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons.”

WATCH: Pentagon releases video of Tomahawk missile launch on Syrian airfield https://t.co/pBXL0y20Be

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) April 7, 2017

Mr. Trump — who was accompanied by senior advisers, including Stephen K. Bannon, his chief strategist; Reince Priebus, his chief of staff; his daughter Ivanka Trump; and others — said his decision to act had been prompted in part by what he called the failures of previous efforts by the world community to respond effectively to the Syrian civil war.

“Years of previous attempts at changing Assad’s behavior have all failed, and failed very dramatically,” the president said, referring to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. “As a result, the refugee crisis continues to deepen, and the region continues to destabilize, threatening the United States and its allies.”

Military officials said 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles had hit Al Shayrat airfield in Syria. The missiles were aimed at Syrian fighter jets and other infrastructure but did not target anything that may have had chemical weapons.